SinEaster: A Novel Read online

CHAPTER 1

  Three Months Before Easter

  Charlee, a seventeen-year-and-364-day-old hot blond girl, was getting ready for school. She had already put on her jeans, tube top shirt, and sneakers. She was also wearing her white bunny ears and her four-inch-in-diameter corruptagram pendant (with the horns and heart in red to represent her bloody backstory), just like every day. The corruptagram symbol, which is a broken heart inside a circle with two horns on top, is actually banned in most schools and was banned in Charlee’s as well—however, an exception was allowed in her case due to her psychological problems.

  She walked to the couch in the living room, then set her backpack and jacket on it. She was about to go to the fridge for a grape soda when a sparkle of white light appeared in the air between her and the kitchen. At first, she thought it was some kind of glowing bug and was intrigued, but then it started growing until it was a little bit bigger than her. Before she could scream, she was sucked into the light.

  Then she suddenly found herself in an entirely different place—she closed her mouth without screaming. She stumbled a little on the grass before finding her footing again.

  Standing in front of her was an extremely thin, blond girl who looked to be around sixteen-years-old, in a long black dress with a tiara on her head, wearing heavy eyeliner. The black-clad girl said, “Welcome to Easter Land”—she said it in a bored-sounding voice, without smiling.

  Then Charlee shrieked, because behind the blond girl stood what looked like someone in a white bunny outfit, next to a large, four-foot-tall toad, next to a human-sized, red plasticy egg with arms, legs, eyes and a mouth—the egg looked male. Behind those three strange creatures stretched miles of green grass-covered hills and plains. A catapult rested on the grass to her left, and a trampoline was a short distance behind it. Behind her was a gray wall that looked like a castle wall. She refocused on the blond girl, then finally noticed the large Easter basket sitting on the ground next to the girl, which, compared to the other things, didn’t seem that unusual.

  “Where am I?” Charlee shouted, as she looked around.

  The black-clad girl rolled her eyelined eyes then repeated, “Easter Land. Outside of the creatively-named Easter Castle.”

  Charlee shouted, “Why do you keep saying ‘Easter’? I hate Easter!”

  “Now calm down,” said the black-clad girl. “I’ve used a summoning spell to bring you from the world you know to our world, where everything is about Easter.”

  Charlee panicked. It took several minutes for the black-clad girl to calm Charlee down and convince her that she wasn’t dreaming or hallucinating. Charlee almost ran away, but she had no idea where she would run to, and she thought that running might be perceived as rude, so she decided to calm down.

  Then Charlee said, “I really hate Easter. It’s my least favorite holiday. Would it be possible for me to go back home? Could you cast another spell?”

  The black-clad girl said, “I’m sorry that you don’t like Easter, but it’s really not possible for you to go home right now. See, you’re one of the Chosen Ones and the fate of Easter rests in your hands. But before we go any further, I’d like to introduce myself. I’m Princess Megan.”

  “I’m Charlee.”

  “Nice to meet you, Charlee. I was gonna call you ‘bunny-girl’ but I think Charlee will be easy to remember.” Princess Megan gestured with her head. “That’s the Easter Bunny, that’s the Easter Toad, and that’s Gumpty Dumpty.” Each of the three strange creatures said hello to Charlee and she awkwardly said hello back.

  Charlee opened her mouth to begin asking questions, but Princess Megan cut her off by saying, “Now before I explain further, I’d like to summon the two other half-breeds, then I can explain everything to you all at once.”

  Then Princess Megan raised her arms and recited these words:

  Oh, by the power of fertility,

  Bring the next one of the three.

  Half human and half of Easter’s own,

  Potential inheritor of the throne!

  Charlee took a step backward as a small sparkle of white light appeared between her and Princess Megan. The sparkle of light quickly expanded, then a teenage African American boy in a wheel chair rolled out from it. He was wearing jeans and a navy blue jacket. As soon as he came out of the circle of light, he cringed and looked around frantically.

  “Where am I?” the boy shouted in terror.

  Princess Megan sounded bored as she told him, “Easter Land.”

  It took a few minutes for the boy to accept the reality of his situation, just like with Charlee. The boy said his name was Deon, but the Princess said, “I’ll call you toad-boy from now on, because it’s easier to remember.”

  Again, Princess Megan declined to explain things further until she had summoned up the third and final Chosen One.

  She recited the spell. Once again, a sparkle of white light appeared then enlarged, then out stumbled a teenage Latina who seemed to be made out of reddish semi-clear plastic—even her hair was plastic. She was wearing regular clothes, though—a skirt and zipped-up leather jacket.

  It took a few minutes for the Princess to convince the girl that she was in Easter Land. The girl’s name was Silvia, but the Princess said she preferred to call her gummi-girl.

  Charlee was wondering why Silvia aka the gummi-girl was so freakish. She also couldn’t help but notice that Silvia had huge boobs, though they were sort of hidden by her jacket. Charlee was trying to be polite and not stare, then she noticed that Deon and Silvia were trying not to stare at her bunny ears. Charlee was used to it though, so she ignored them.

  Princess Megan finally started explaining what was going on. “Well,” she said, as she looked at the three newly-summoned teens, “I bet you’re all wondering why I brought you here today.”

  “Yes,” said Charlee angrily. “And when are you letting us go back?”

  “Please,” said Princess Megan, “hear me out. Where you are right now, is Easter Land, a magical realm outside of what you call ‘reality.’ It’s where all things Easter comes from.”

  “I hate Easter,” Charlee muttered.

  Princess Megan said, “Well, yes, if I may continue, uninterrupted, please. Now, you all are familiar with the Easter Bunny.” She pointed over her shoulder, and the Easter Bunny grinned and nodded at them all. She continued, “You all know the Easter Bunny, but you probably don’t know about the Easter Toad and Gumpty Dumpty, the gummi egg.” As she gestured with her hands, the toad nodded its head and the gummi egg waved behind her. She continued, “You see, one thousand years ago, there was supposed to be a competition between the toad, the gummi egg and the bunny, to see who would be the deliverer of the eggs from Easter Land.”

  “Wait!” said Charlee. “Is Gumpty Dumpty made out of gummi? Like the plasticy candy stuff they make little bears out of?”

  “Why yes!” said the smiling red egg. “I’m made out of gummi! And so is Silvia!”

  Silvia shrieked while staring at her red, plasticy fingers. “How did this happen?”

  Princess Megan gave Silvia a stern look, then said, “Please calm down. We’ll get to all of that stuff later. I have a lot of information to give you, so please just be patient and listen.”

  Charlee opened her mouth, about to say something, but the Princess shot her a stern look, so Charlee’s jaw closed again. The guy in the wheelchair was sitting with a bewildered expression on his face.

  “Okay, where was I?” Princess Megan said. “Oh yes, back in the days of yore, there was supposed to be a contest to see who would be the egg deliverer. However, before the contest, the toad and gummi egg each took a nap for a thousand years, and so the contest has been postponed until now, and the Easter Bunny has been temporarily filling in. They say they didn’t mean to fall asleep, but, whatever.”

  The gummi egg shouted, “But I really didn’t mean to fall asleep!” then the toad shouted, “Me neither!” in a toady, female voice.

  The Princess rolled her e
yes, then continued. “But eighteen years ago, they finally woke up, and this is where you three come in, Charlee, toad-boy, and gummi-girl. The three offspring of the Easter creatures and humans shall compete in a contest and the winner’s parent will become the official egg deliverer. For example, if toad-boy wins, then the Easter Toad will deliver the eggs from now on. You three are the offspring and, because today you are all 17 and 364 days old, you have been brought here today to compete. You are…~*THE CHOSEN ONES*~”

  Charlee angrily proclaimed, “What the hell!” Deon had covered his face with his hand, and Silvia was looking at everyone with a panicky expression on her gummi face.

  Charlee asked angrily, “Are you trying to say we are each half rabbit, toad, and egg?”

  The Princess nodded. “Yes. You each represent a bridge of sorts between the magical Easter realm and the world you know. And that’s why when you crossed into Easter Land, your physical forms changed to show your…mixed heritage.” She swept her arm toward Silvia before anyone could respond, then said, “Gummi-girl is the most obvious example. In your world, she probably looked normal, but here, we can see that she is now completely made of gummi.”

  Silvia looked around frantically, then whimpered. “Not true. My mom wouldn’t be intimate with an egg.”

  Princess Megan replied, “Oh, it’s very true,” and she said it in a way that almost seemed vicious. To Charlee, she said, “Hush and listen,” because Charlee was about to start demanding answers. The Princess continued, “Each of your mothers had a sexual fetish which they probably kept a secret from you. That is why they were chosen to mate with, on that special Easter Eve eighteen years ago.” Princess Megan pointed at Deon in his wheelchair. She looked at him and crinkled her eyes. “Now, you are the product of the toad and your mother. It may seem strange to you, because they are both female, but magic can do strange things sometimes.”

  Deon shook his head with a look of denial on his face, then said, “No, my mother told me my father was a one night stand at a college party.”

  Princess Megan smirked. “Your mother lied. It’s understandable. By the way, you can stand up now. You’re in the magical realm now…”

  Deon shot back angrily, “What are you talking about? I’ve been crippled all my life!”

  “Yes,” said the Princess. “That’s because you probably inherited toad legs, though they would have looked like human legs in your world. Magic works in weird ways, and in your world, I guess it resulted in disability, but here in Easter Land, you should be okay. So, try to stand up.”

  The expression on Deon’s face indicated that he thought he might be the victim of some sort of practical joke. But he rose up from his chair…and he stood. He was wearing jeans which covered his legs, but it was obvious that his legs didn’t bend the way you’d expect a human’s to bend. They bended like a toad’s legs would, if you lifted it up and pretended it was walking upright, which is a cruel thing to do. I mean, leave the toad alone.

  “Wow,” Deon said. “This is so weird. I was so used to my wheelchair.”

  “Yes,” said the Princess in a snide voice. “Now you’ll have to stand like the rest of us and you can’t just sit around all the time. You can probably hop pretty far too, but please don’t do that now. Save it for later.” She turned her head to look at Charlee.

  Charlee said, “What?”

  Princess Megan twerked her mouth. “You took up the habit of wearing bunny ears…”

  “That’s right,” Charlee shot back. “Because I practice the freedom everyone claims to believe in.”

  “But here in Easter Land, your bunny ears have become real. In your own world, you were subconsciously mimicking your true nature. A part of you knew the truth…”

  Charlee swallowed. She didn’t know whether to believe the Princess or not, but there was one way to find out. With her hands trembling, she lifted them to feel her bunny ears.

  They were warm and furry to her touch. Then, she realized that she could make them move at will. Her heartbeat quickened. She felt around her head and couldn’t feel any human ears.

  “What the hell!” she shouted.

  The Princess laughed. “You have bunny ears! It’s the real thing! Get used to it.”

  Charlee took a few moments to process what the Princess said. Then her mind flashed back to that horrible Easter morning when she was seven-years-old. She remembered the DVD her father had held that had been signed, “Unhappy Easter.”

  Charlee glared at the Easter Bunny, then shouted, “You were the reason my father murdered my mother!”

  The Easter Bunny looked shocked and raised his hands defensively. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

  Everyone else looked shocked too.

  Charlee shouted, “You impregnated my mother and recorded it, then you gave a DVD to my father! That’s why he was so angry! He shot my mother and himself because of it!” Charlee was trembling with rage. Before today, she’d assumed that the DVD had been from one of her mother’s lovers.

  The Easter Bunny said, “I’m very sorry about your parents, but I would never do anything like that. I didn’t record my time with your mother. I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Charlee started to feel a twinge of doubt, because the Easter Bunny seemed so sincere. “But there was a DVD.”

  The Easter Bunny asked, “What was on it?”

  “Well…I’m not sure. I didn’t get to watch it. It was destroyed.”

  “Well, I assure you, I never made a DVD and I never recorded the time with your mother. And I want to assure you it was completely voluntary on her part. She told me she was single, too. If she hadn’t told me that, I never would have gone through with it.”

  Charlee felt horribly confused. The past few minutes had been so strange, she didn’t know what to believe anymore.

  “Well,” said the Princess, “I hate to interrupt, but we really don’t have a whole lot of time. We’re gonna try to get all of this done in one day, because tomorrow you’ll be legally adults and will be able to rule Easter Land.” Then she smiled big and chipperly said, “Okay?”

  Charlee shouted, “What? I don’t want to do this! I want to go back home! I hate Easter!”

  Princess Megan said, “Wait! I need to tell you more things. Now listen up. The winner of the contest will become the Queen or King of Easter Land and will have great power—I’m talking about things like magic, political power, immortality, the power to make Easter decisions… By the way, before you ask, I’m not a princess of Easter Land—I’m a princess of another land.”

  Charlee shouted, “What if we don’t want to be Queen?”

  Silvia shouted out, “Yeah!”

  The Princess said, “Well, according to the contest rules and regulations, if you win, you can sign everything over to the creature you’re representing. If you did do that, you could return to your normal life, stripped of all your powers and rights and you’d go back to being a boring common person. If you’d want that.”

  Charlee asked, “What if we choose not to even play in the contest?”

  “Well,” said the Princess. “You’d forfeit. You could go back home. The choice is up to you. But you’d be blowing the opportunity for great power, and,” she looked at Charlee, “if you quit, Easter wouldn’t be about the Easter Bunny anymore.”

  Charlee was feeling quite torn. On one hand, she really hated Easter and almost wanted it to be destroyed. But on the other hand, if she quit now, Easter wouldn’t be destroyed—it would just be switched to a new mascot of a toad or a large gummi egg and she didn’t know if she could live with herself for allowing some freak to take over Easter.

  But, as the Princess had said, if Charlee won, she could sign away all her obligations and wipe her hands of the whole mess. That really seemed the best solution.

  Princess Megan said, “Now, there are a series of challenges that have been set up. It’s all based on a point system. Now, if we can start the first trial, let’s do i
t. I’m the referee and judge, by the way. Is everyone ready?”